Hope for Desperate Times

By Ellamae M. Johnson-Dennard

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• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Sep 28, 2010
• ISBN: 9781453577196

Ellamae M. Johnson-Dennard

Ellamae Dennard is a humble, servant of God who has been laboring in the field of souls for more than twenty years. She is passionate about spreading the Word of God and is intent on being the light the Lord has called her to be. With more than thirty years experience as an educator, she has held various administrative positions including Director of Education for Anglican schools in the Bahamas and Dean of Students at Zoe University in Jacksonville, Florida. Dr. Ellamae Dennard obtained a Doctorate in Theology in 2001 and in May 2010 completed the Doctorate in Christian Counseling. While studying for this second doctoral degree, she served as Associate Pastor at Zoe Chapel Church in Jacksonville where she was ordained. In addition to teaching and preaching, Dr. Ellamae Dennard has also spent six years feeding the hungry in Jacksonville through the ministry the Lord established in her in 2003, Lights of the World Outreach . As teacher, counselor and evangelist, her desire is to serve ad maiorem gloriam dei.

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Copyright © 2010 by Ellamae M. Johnson-Dennard.

Library of Congress Control Number:       2010913679

ISBN:         Hardcover                               978-1-4535-7718-9

                   Softcover                                 978-1-4535-7717-2

                   Ebook                                      978-1-4535-7719-6

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

Unless otherwise stated, all Scripture quotations are from the King James Version of the Bible.

This book was printed in the United States of America.

To order additional copies of this book, contact:

Xlibris Corporation

1-888-795-4274

www.Xlibris.com

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86007

Contents

DEDICATION

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER FOUR

CHAPTER FIVE

CHAPTER SIX

ABOUT THE BOOK

DEDICATION

This book is lovingly dedicated to all God’s children and especially to my son, Viko, whom I refer to as my one button from Abraham’s jacket.

CHAPTER ONE

HOPE, THE POWER FOR POSSIBILITIES

What really is hope? To understand hope, it is necessary to consider the history of the human race and how mankind was rescued and redeemed. Man had a glorious beginning of being the crown of God’s creation and enjoying continuous fellowship with the Almighty. This was, however, marred by the sin of disobedience in the Garden of Eden. Sin reversed God’s great plan for man. Sin brought great loss to the whole of Adam’s race. Sickness, calamity, disappointment, failure, suffering, death and every negative thing that happens in the world today is traceable to that singular disobedience. All man’s efforts to help himself out of this problem had been futile.

Who then would deliver man from this bondage? This was the cry of man under the task master, Lucifer. In the fullness of time, Jesus the Hope of man was revealed. He it was that put on human flesh. He was born of the Virgin Mary and came to the world for a peculiar mission. He came to bruise the head of the devil, to deliver man from sin and death and to restore his fellowship with God. He died a vicarious death and rose again to give man abundant life. He himself said, The thief cometh not, but to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly (John 10:10). Through His death and resurrection, man’s hope has been renewed.

Jesus’ resurrection, in particular, gives hope to every man. But for the fact that He rose again, our faith would have been in vain. We would have remained in sins and trespasses; we would have remained slaves to satan forever. We would have been eternally doomed. But thanks be unto God that Jesus died to give us salvation, eternal life, victory and dominion over sin and satan.

Jesus lives and because He lives everyone who believes in Him can face tomorrow with confidence. Because He lives all fear is gone. Since He holds the future in the palm of His hands, we can march forward triumphantly. Jesus lives as a High Priest forever. He is able to save you to the uttermost if you will come to God through Him (Hebrews 7:24-25). You can surrender yourself, your needs, problems and aspirations to Him. He is the Hope of the world; He it is who brings hope to our hopeless situations.

What is hope? Our understanding of the term hope will be enhanced by the knowledge of what hope is not. Firstly, it is important to stress that hope is not procrastination. To procrastinate is to delay action; to keep putting off what you should do today. If you waited until it was too late, you could be defeated, or you could lose out on blessings from God. To procrastinate is merely to hesitate from taking action. Sometimes it involves hesitating from doing the things the Lord has asked to be done. This is certainly not hope.

Hope must always be based on a promise or spoken word of God. When every reason in the human arena was gone, Abraham had to depend on the hope that was based on what God had spoken to him concerning the birth of a son. Abraham chose to obey God, even when he did not know where God was taking him, because he knew that God could not lie. It is worthy of note that you must have a promise from God that you’re holding on to, even in the midst of all confusion.

Developing supernatural hope can only be based on either the spoken or the written word of God that you have on the inside of you. The systems of this world can not give it to you neither can money. It would be suicidal to put all your hope in worldly things that can collapse and fail in a second. Hopeless as Abraham’s situation was he had a promise he depended on, he knew that God was able. Abraham was able to build up his hope in God in the face of human hopelessness. What is more, he did not procrastinate. A decision to follow God may not make sense to the human mind but it always makes proof. Hope is what keeps the proof alive before its manifestation.

Secondly, hope is not cowardice. Cowardice is a feeling or the way of behavior of a coward. It could mean running away from danger; to be faint-hearted. For all intents and purposes, hope is not cowardice. Rather it is the very opposite of it. The Bible puts it succinctly that if thou faint in the day of adversity, thy strength is small (Proverbs 24:10). It is rather hopelessness that leads to cowardice, not hope. Many people just do not have the strength to face life and